Forget the charges of inexperience, the earmarks, the suppression of an ongoing investigation, the fondness for the AIP, the lack of foreign policy knowledge. All that matters to some is that Sarah Palin loves Jesus, and that she's a woman.
In fact, newly released video of the governor shows just how easily she mingles religion with politics. God's will, in her eyes, is something we can use to further our political ambition. Here she is on the building of a new natural gas pipeline:
"I think God's will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get the gas line built, so pray for that."
Sometimes you need to ask for a little help from the man upstairs, and sometimes you simply follow His clearly laid out plan:
"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God. That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that plan is God's will."
Like President Bush, Palin employs the holy spirit to justify her policy positions. If it's something you want, like an oil pipeline, you pray He'll help you get it built. If it's a badly mismanaged war (McCain's words) then it's all part of God's plan, be patient.
To recap why the religious right is so excited about Palin, she wants to: Ban all abortion. Teach creationism in public schools. Abolish sex education. And fight wars that are "God's will."
We may already have a clue as to why Palin and her husband like the AIP so much: It's an offshoot of a larger organization that wants to see the constitution re-written so as to conform to biblical law. What about Palin? Maybe once she's allowed to hold an honest-to-God press conference, we can ask her.
Is this what this country needs?
HolyCowGrouse